More deaths reported on Kenyan roads in first-half of 2016

NAIROBI, KENYA: There were more deaths on Kenyan roads this year compared to last year, states a half year report by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
The report which looks at the period between January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016 states that 1,574 people lost their lives due to road crashes as opposed to 1,488 who died over the same period last year.
Speaking during the launch, NTSA director general, Francis Meja, stated that despite concerted efforts to stem road carnage, there are still gaps that have to be filled to stop more deaths and injuries on the road.
"Road crashes is the leading cause of death of people aged between 15 and 29," said Meja.
Pedestrians are still the greatest number of road crash victims with about three out of every five deaths on the roads.
"A large number of these pedestrians are children," said Ruth Njeri of the Automobile Association (AA) who also stated that slightly above half of all deaths that occur after a road crash can be prevented after if people had basic knowledge on first aid.
Meja further noted that motorcyclists and their passengers constituted a significant number of fatalities occuring on the roads.
"There was a 23 per cent increase in deaths among motorcyclists; deaths among drivers, passengers also increased but still did not surpass motorcyclists," said Meja.
He also pointed that despite the fact that Kenya has fewer vehicles compared to developed countries, it still had a high rate of accidents.
Nairobi County ranks first among counties with most number of crashes followed by Nakuru County. On the other hand, Wajir County has the least number of crashes. It registered 16 out of every 100 deaths on the roads.
Kiambu, Makueni, Machakos and Meru also registered high numbers of deaths which Meja said can be attributed to the fact that they are straddled by major highways.
The leading killer highway is the Northern Corridor which connects Mombasa to Uganda.
Meja further noted that places with more people experienced more road crashes.
"People living in highly populated areas interact more with the roads compared to areas with less people and this could be the reason Nairobi has more crashes than any other county due to its high population concentration," said Meja.